Varanasi, India Sights  River The River Ganges provides millions of Indians with an important link to their spirituality. Every day about 60,000 people go down to the Varanasi ghats to take a holy dip along a 7km stretch of the river. Along this same area, 30 large sewers are continuously discharging into the river. The Ganges River is so heavily polluted at Varanasi that the water is septic - no dissolved oxygen exists. The statistics get worse. Samples from the river show the water has 1.5 million faecal coliform bacteria per 100mL of water. In water that is safe for bathing this figure should be less than 500!

Ghats Varanasi, India Sights  River Spiritual life in Varanasi revolves around the ghats, the long string of bathing steps leading down to the water on the western bank of the Ganges. Most are used for bathing but there are also several 'burning ghats' where bodies are cremated in public - the main burning ghat is Manikarnika and you'll often see funeral processions threading their way through the backstreets to this ghat.

The best time to visit the ghats is at dawn when the river is bathed in a mellow light as pilgrims come to perform puja (literally 'respect'; offering or prayers) to the rising sun, and at sunset when the main ganga aarti ceremony takes place at Dasaswamedh Ghat. Around 80 ghats ghats border the river, but the main group extends from Assi Ghat, near the university, northwards to Raj Ghat, near the road and rail bridge. A one-hour boat trip from Dasaswamedh Ghat south to Harishchandra Ghat and back provides a good introduction to the river scene. People come to the Ganges not only for a ritual bath but also to wash clothes, do yoga, offer blessings, buy paan (a mixture of betel nut and leaves for chewing), sell flowers, get a massage, play cricket, wash their buffaloes, improve their karma by giving to beggars, or simply hang around. This is traditional India at its most colourful and picturesque and photo opportunities abound.Assi Ghat, furthest south of the main ghats, is particularly important as the River Asi meets the Ganges near here and pilgrims come to worship a Shiva lingam beneath a pipal tree. The ghats themselves were undergoing much-needed renovation at the time of writing and there are some interesting shops, cafés and excellent hotels here. Boat owners wait to take pilgrims and tourists upstream to Dasaswamedh Ghat.Harishchandra Ghat is a cremation ghat - smaller and secondary in importance to Manikarnika - and one of the oldest ghats in Varanasi. Above it, Kedar Ghat has a shrine popular with Bengalis and South Indians. Mansarowar Ghat was built by Raja Man Singh of Amber and named after the Tibetan lake at the foot of Mt Kailash, Shiva's Himalayan home. Someswar Ghat (Lord of the Moon Ghat) is said to be able to heal diseases. The Munshi Ghat is very photogenic, while Ahalya Bai's Ghat is named after the female Maratha ruler of Indore. Varanasi's liveliest and most colourful ghat is Dasaswamedh Ghat, easily reached at the end of the main road from Godaulia Crossing. The name indicates that Brahma sacrificed (medh) 10 (das) horses (aswa) here. In spite of the oppressive boat-owners, flower-sellers and touts trying to drag you off to a silk shop, it's a wonderful place to linger and people-watch while soaking up the atmosphere. Note its statues and the shrine of Sitala, goddess of smallpox. Every evening at 19:00 an elaborate ganga aarti ceremony with puja, fire and dance) is staged here. Meer Ghat leads to a Nepali temple, which has erotic sculptures. Manikarnika Ghat is the main burning ghat and the most auspicious place for a Hindu to be cremated. Dead bodies are handled by outcasts known as doms, and they are carried through the alleyways of the old city to the holy Ganges on a bamboo stretcher swathed in cloth. The corpse is doused in the Ganges prior to cremation. Huge piles of firewood are stacked along the top of the ghat, each log carefully weighed on giant scales so that the price of cremation can be calculated. Each type of wood has its own price with sandalwood being the most expensive. There is an art to using just enough wood to completely incinerate a corpse. You can watch cremations but photography is strictly prohibited, and always show reverence by behaving respectfully.

Bharat Kala Bhavan Varanasi, India Sights  Museum On-campus at BHU is the Bharat Kala Bhavan, a roomy museum with a wonderful collection of miniature paintings as well as 12th-century palm-leaf manuscripts, sculptures and local history displays. An upstairs gallery is dedicated to Alice Boner, a Swiss sculptor and art historian who spent many years in Varanasi.

Durga Temple Varanasi, India Sights  Religious, spiritual The small Durga Temple was built in the 18th century by a Bengali maharani and is stained red with ochre. Designed in North Indian Nagara style with a multitiered sikhara (spire), it is dedicated to Durga. Non-Hindus can enter the courtyard but not the inner sanctum.

Gyan Kupor Well Varanasi, India Sights  Religious, spiritual Gyan Kupor Well. The faithful believe drinking water from the Gyan Kupor Well leads to a higher spiritual plane, though they are prevented from doing so by both tradition and a strong security screen. The well is said to contain the Shiva lingam that was removed from the previous temple and hidden to protect it from Aurangzeb.

New Vishwanath Temple Varanasi, India Sights  Religious, spiritual Unlike most temples in Varanasi, the New Vishwanath is open to all, irrespective of religion, but architecturally is nothing special.

Ramnagar Fort Museum Varanasi, India Sights  Museum On the eastern bank of the Ganges, inside a crumbling but impressive 17th-century fort and palace is a haphazard museum. Exhibits include palanquins, howdahs, an astrological clock, clothing, weapons and other collectables. The maharaja still patronises the annual month-long Ram Lila drama festival held around here.

Tulsi Manas Temple Varanasi, India Sights  Religious, spiritual The modern marble, sikhara-style Tulsi Manas Temple was built in 1964. The two-tier walls are engraved with verses and scenes from the Ram Charit Manas, the Hindi version of the Ramayana. Its author, poet Tulsi Das, lived here while writing it.

Vishwanath Temple Varanasi, India Sights  Religious, spiritual This is the most popular Hindu temple in Varanasi and is dedicated to Vishveswara - Shiva as lord of the universe. The current temple was built in 1776 by Ahalya Bai of Indore, while the 800kg of gold plating on the tower and dome was supplied by Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore 50 years later. There has been a succession of Shiva temples in the vicinity, but they were routinely destroyed by Muslim invaders. Aurangzeb continued this tradition, knocking down the previous temple and building the Gyanvapi Mosque, which still exists inside the temple complex.

I thought it would be neat to show the solution to a conundrum that has been bugging me: Where is Shelly Beach?It turns out that there are actually two Shelly Beaches, one dozens of km north of Manly and the other between Manly and the North Head section. It is the latter which was the pit stop location for episode 1.

The walk from Manly to Shelly Beach invlves the following:

The walk from Manly to Shelly Beach past Fairy Blower is along an oceanside path lined with the occasional sculptures and park benches allowing you to pause and take in the views. The path passes some beautiful homes, a gift shop and rock pools. Most days swimmers, snorkellers, scuba divers and surfers take to the seas.Shelly Beach is an idyllic little beach fringed with palms. It makes a perfect setting for the cafe and the popular Le Kiosk restaurant. Shelly is usually much quieter than Manly Beach and ideal for relaxing in the afternoon sun for a few hours.

Remember that teams came there from wherever the 16 foot skiffs dropped them off and that some teams went directly from Manly Beach to Sydney by taxi and bypassed the walk.

I thought it would be neat to show the solution to a conundrum that has been bugging me: Where is Shelly Beach?It turns out that there are actually two Shelly Beaches, one dozens of km north of Manly and the other between Manly and the North Head section. It is the latter which was the pit stop location for episode 1.

The route info marker for the detours was in Minamia-Shigara. For an exercise in seeing how they might have driven. Put that in for GE driving directions, to go from there to the Pit Stop near Kurihama Station. It is about 2-3 blocks from the station to the Pit Stop in Perry Park. You can see the time estimate and length of the drive in GE.

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Since it appears that the Racers start Episode 4 with a drive from Kurihama to Narita, here is a GE map with GE driving route. It says 2 hours and 30 minutes for the trip. I would assume that means if you are very comfortable driving on the left and can read the route signs in Japanese.

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Pick your own favorite map of Liechtenstein; there are several to choose from since it is such a tiny place. The northern end is just west of Feldkirch Austria. The western border is close to Buchs Switzerland. The southwestern border is just above Sargans Switzerland.

Here is my point: There is no place for a non-mountainous moped run other than the E43 or Route 13, which are parallel or sometimes the same. I bet that the moped course will be north-south or south-north.